Tribunal winner claiming £370k from software firm

A sales executive is claiming £370,000 from Oracle after winning a sex discrimination case against the software company.

Karen Carlucci, an account manager at Oracle for 10 years, claims the stigma of a sex discrimination case and the fact she is 38-years-old with two children prevents her from obtaining a similar position and salary with another company in the IT industry.

She won the sex discrimination case at an employment tribunal earlier this year after exposing a ‘boys club’ culture at Oracle’s Reading-based UK headquarters, where she was subjected to sexist e-mails and sexist behaviour from her male managers.

At the time she left Oracle, Carlucci was on 63,500 basic salary with ‘on target earnings’ of £125,000. She is claiming loss of future earnings and aggravated damages totalling £370,000.

Daniel Stilitz, counsel for Oracle, dismissed Carlucci’s claim as “perverse”. He said Carlucci’s record in IT sales would make her an attractive candidate.

But Daniel Isaac, employment partner at law firm Withers, said it was generally accepted that bringing a case of this nature would make it more difficult to get another job.

“It is entirely legitimate to ask for compensation in a case like this,” he said. “If prospective employers are aware of the case they may see the claimant as a troublemaker.”

Since the case, Oracle has spent £100,000 training 200 managers in equal opportunities, but Carlucci is still seeking a public apology from the company.

James Laddie, counsel for Carlucci, said the effect of the case on his client had been “severe and long-lasting” and accused Oracle of being arrogant and misleading throughout the proceedings.

The tribunal is expected to reach a final decision on compensation by the end of November.

Oracle’s final offer

The end may be in sight in the ongoing saga of Oracle’s hostile takeover bid for business software rival PeopleSoft.

Oracle has made what it called its “best and final offer” for PeopleSoft, raising its bid from 11 to 13 per share, and paring down the conditions it is stipulating for the deal. That puts the value of the new offer at £5bn.

If the deal goes ahead, it may have implications for PeopleSoft users as Oracle has hinted in the past that it would largely cease active development of the PeopleSoft portfolio of products.